• Front and rear room is very impressive
• Family car space for a hatchback price tag
• Packed with clever touches for passengers

The Skoda Octavia has traditionally offered Passat-style space for Golf money, and this one is no exception. For the driver, this translates to a roomy front cabin area with a deep, usable glovebox and door pockets and cavernous storage areas between the front seats. There’s a pair of cupholders in the centre console – which have a sliding cover – but are limited in their use if the folding armrest is in its most forward position.

For back seat space, it’s equally roomy and usable, particularly when it comes to passenger knee room, as no rival comes close. A six-footer can sit behind another six-footer without any issues, and there’s room for three friends. There are air vents for those in the rear, and storage pockets on the back of the front seats with additional cut-outs tailored for your smartphone.

Being a Skoda, the new Octavia is also packed full of ‘Simply Clever’ touches. Skoda fits an umbrella in the door jamb – just like on a Rolls-Royce – plus optional winged head restraints in the rear that allow passengers to have a proper sleep. These are small touches but they do make a big difference.

149

Boot space and storage

The luggage area is also the best of all its comparably-priced rivals. The Octavia Hatchback offers 600 litres of boot space seats up, and 1,555 litres with them folded. To put that into perspective, these numbers compare with 640 and 1,700 litres for the Octavia Estate, which is larger than many cars in the class above. The Volkswagen Golf doesn’t get a look-in with 381 and 1,237 litres respectively. 

The cabin is also well stocked with cubbyholes, so you get a voluminous storage area in the centre console between the front seats, and deep door pockets that easily swallow a full-sized water bottle.

Is it easy to park?

The Skoda Octavia looks like a full-sized saloon out on the road, but it feels agreeably compact when you’re driving it. The view forward is good, although the wide pillars are more than capable of obscuring your visibility in town driving. Front and rear parking sensors are available across the range, while a rear-view camera is optional on most models.

View dimensions in the Skoda Octavia specs pages

Safety

• Big update with lots of driver assistance
• LED lights as standard, optional matrix
• Five-star Euro NCAP rating

Driver assistance tech is one area where the new Octavia has made a big leap over its predecessor. Much of the new safety tech that debuted in the Volkswagen Golf has made it to the Octavia, meaning it no longer feels like it’s second-best to its German cousin.

It wouldn’t be a new, updated car without some more tech to headline the specs, so the Octavia has been loaded-up with a host of new technology. There’s a head-up display for the first time, while the selection of driver assistance and safety tech has been increased. In addition to the existing adaptive cruise control and blindspot monitors, there is greater collision avoidance tech that will control the car if you don’t, alert you to a potential collision at a junction, and warn you about traffic jams coming up – all available for the first time.

The adaptive cruise control works well without being too abrupt on the brakes, making for smooth progress most of the time. It can get caught out by lorries on the inside lane next to you, however, as it will cautiously slow you down as if the lorry was directly in front of you. LED headlights are standard throughout, with the option to upgrade to matrix adaptive units. These make a huge difference for anyone driving at night, and help stave off driver fatigue on a long overnight journey.

Skoda Octavia safety equipment

The driver also gets a knee airbag in conjunction with the full suite of front, side and curtain ones fitted around the cabin. There are three Isofix points in the Skoda Octavia, found on the front passenger seat and outer rear seats.

• Collision Avoidance Assist: avoids pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles to avoid a collision
• Turn Assist: detects oncoming traffic when turning left at a junction
• Exit Warning system: warns if a vehicle or a cyclist is approaching from behind when a car door is open
• Local Traffic Warning function: automatically warns of hold-ups in the immediate area
• Area View system: 360 degree parking camera
• Side Assist blindspot warning
• Predictive Cruise Control: uses camera and sat-nav data to adjust the cruise control speed, works down to stop even on cars with a manual gearbox
• Crew Protect Assist: prepares the car for a head-on or rear-end collision, by tensioning the front seat belts, and closing the windows and panoramic roof
• Multi-Collision Brake: stops the vehicle after a collision to prevent rolling

Watch: Skoda Octavia Euro NCAP crash test video